BILL NUMBER: SB 805	CHAPTERED  09/02/99

	CHAPTER   308
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 2, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 1, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 19, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   JULY 15, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 29, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MAY 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 12, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator McPherson

                        FEBRUARY 25, 1999

   An act to amend Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring
the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 805, McPherson.  Migrant farm labor centers.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community
Development to contract with local public and private nonprofit
agencies to provide housing services, including shelter, education,
sanitation, and day care services for migratory agricultural workers,
through the development, construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, or operation of a migrant farm labor center.
Existing law also authorizes the operation of a migrant farm labor
center for an extended period beyond 180 days if specified conditions
are met.
   This bill would revise those specified conditions and would
require the department to approve the operation of a center for an
extended period and would appropriate $60,000 from the General Fund
to the department for the Office of Migrant Services to fund, during
the 1999-2000 fiscal year, the extended occupancy periods authorized
by the bill.
  The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 50710.1 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   50710.1.  (a) If all the development costs of any migrant farm
labor center assisted pursuant to this chapter are provided by
federal, state, or local grants, and if inadequate funds are
available from any federal, state, or local service to write-down
operating costs, the department may approve rents for that center
which are in excess of rents charged in other centers assisted by the
Office of Migrant Services.  However, prior to approving these
rents, the department shall consider the adequacy of evidence
presented by the entity operating the center that the rents reimburse
actual, reasonable, and necessary costs of operation.
   (b) At the end of each fiscal year, any entity operating a migrant
farm labor center pursuant to this chapter may establish a reserve
account comprised of the excess funds provided through the annual
operating contract received from the department, if the department
certifies there is no need to address reasonable general maintenance
requirements or repairs, rehabilitation, and replacement needs of the
requesting migrant farm labor center which affect the immediate
health and safety of residents.  The cumulative balance of the
reserve account shall not exceed 10 percent of the annual operating
funds annually committed to the entity by the department.  Funds in
the reserve account shall be used only for capital improvements such
as replacing or repairing structural elements, furniture, fixtures,
or equipment of the migrant farm labor center, the replacement or
repair of which are reasonably required to preserve the migrant farm
labor center.  Withdrawals from the reserve account shall be made
only upon the written approval of the department of the amount and
nature of expenditures.
   (c) A migrant farm labor center governed by this chapter may be
operated for an extended period beyond 180 days after approval by the
department, provided that all of the following conditions are
satisfied:
   (1) No additional subsidies provided by the department are used
for the operation or administration of the migrant farm center during
the extended occupancy period except to the extent that state funds
are appropriated or authorized for the purpose of funding all or part
of the cost of subsidizing extended occupancy periods during the
first 14 days only.
   (2) Rents are not to be increased above the rents charged during
the period immediately prior to the extended occupancy period unless
the department finds that an increase is necessary to cover the
difference between reasonable operating costs necessary to keep the
center open during the extended occupancy period and the amount of
state funds available pursuant to paragraph (1) and any contributions
from agricultural employers or other federal, local, or private
sources.  These contributions shall not be used to reduce the amount
of state funds that otherwise would be made available to the center
to subsidize rents during an extended occupancy period.
   (3) In no event shall the rent during the extended occupancy
period exceed the average daily operating cost of the center, less
any subsidy funds available pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2).
Households representing at least 25 percent of the units in the
center shall have indicated their desire and intention to remain in
residency during an extended occupancy period by signing a petition
to the local entity to keep the center open for an extended period at
rents that are the same or higher than rents during the regular
period of occupancy.  Each household shall receive a clear bilingual
notice describing the extended occupancy options attached to the
lease.
   The Legislature finds and declares that because the number of
residents may be substantially reduced during the extended occupancy
period, a rent increase may be necessary to cover operating costs.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the public sector, private
sector, and farmworkers should each play an important role in
ensuring the financial viability of this important source of needed
housing.
   (4) An extended occupancy period is requested by an entity
operating the migrant farm labor center and received by the
department no earlier than 30 days and no later than 15 days prior to
the center's scheduled closing date.  The department shall notify
the entity and petitioning residents of the final decision no later
than seven days prior to the center's scheduled closing date.  During
the extended occupancy period, occupancy shall be limited to migrant
farmworkers and their families who resided at a migrant center
during the regular period of occupancy.
   (5) Before approving or denying an extension and establishing the
rents for the extended occupancy period, both of which shall be
within the sole discretion of the department, the department shall
take into consideration all of the following factors:
   (A) The structural and physical condition of the center, including
water and sewer pond capacity and the capacity and willingness of
the local entity to operate the center during the extended occupancy
period.
   (B) Whether local approvals are required, and whether there are
competing demands for the use of the center's facilities.
   (C) Whether there is adequate documentation that there is a need
for residents of the migrant center to continue work in the area, as
confirmed by the local entity.
   (D) The climate during the extended occupancy period.
   (E) The amount of subsidy funds available that can be allocated to
each center to subsidize rents below the operating costs and the
cost of operating each center during the extended occupancy period.
   (F) The extended occupancy period is deemed necessary for the
health and safety of the migrant farmworkers and their families.
   (G) Other relevant factors affecting the migrant farmworkers and
their families and the operation of the centers.
   (6) The rents collected during the extended occupancy period shall
be remitted to the department.  However, based on financial records
to the satisfaction of the department, the department may reduce the
amount to be remitted by an amount it determines the local entity has
expended during the extended occupancy period that is not being
reimbursed by department funds.
   (7) The occupancy during the extended occupancy period represents
a new tenancy and is not subject to existing and statutory and
regulatory limitations governing rents.  Prior to the beginning of
the extended occupancy period, residents shall be provided at least
two days' advance written notice of any rent increase and of the
expected length of the extended occupancy period, including the
scheduled date of closure of the center, and prior to being eligible
for residency during the extended occupancy period, residents shall
sign rental documents deemed necessary by the department.
   (d) The Legislature finds and declares that variable annual
climates and changing agricultural techniques create an inability to
accurately predict the end of a harvest season for the purposes of
housing migrant farmworkers and their families.  Because of these
factors, in any part of this state, and in any specific year, one or
more migrant farmworker housing centers governed by this chapter need
to remain open for up to two additional weeks to allow the residents
to provide critical assistance to growers in harvesting crops while
also fulfilling work expectations that encouraged them to migrate to
the areas of the centers.  In addition, if the centers close
prematurely, the migrant farmworkers often must remain in the areas
to work for up to two weeks.  During this time they will not be able
to obtain decent, safe, and affordable housing and the health and
safety of their families and the surrounding community will be
threatened.
   The Legislature therefore finds and declares that, for the
purposes of any public or private right, obligation, or authorization
related to the use of property and improvements thereon as a 180-day
migrant center, an extended use of any housing center governed by
this chapter pursuant to this section is deemed to be the same as the
180-day use generally authorized by this chapter.
  SEC. 2.  The sum of sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Housing and
Community Development for the Office of Migrant Services for the
purpose of funding during the 1999-2000 fiscal year the extended
occupancy periods authorized by subdivision (c) of Section 50710.1 of
the Health and Safety Code, as amended by Section 1 of this act.
This appropriation shall be in addition to any sums allocated to the
Office of Migrant Services in the Budget Act of 1999.
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to overcome the delay of the 1999 agricultural season due
to the 1998-99 winter freezes and the heavy rains in early 1999 and
make funds available so that migrant farmworkers and their families
will be able to obtain housing to complete the harvest before the end
of the 1999 growing season, it is necessary for this act to take
effect immediately.
